Reducing Plastic Straws in the Ocean

(Last Updated On: February 9, 2019)

More and more businesses on Koh Lanta are saying no to plastic straws and choosing stainless steel, bamboo or paper ones instead. This means Koh Lanta’s businesses and tourists will be reducing the future amount of plastic straws in the ocean, as well as keeping the beautiful beaches here cleaner.

No Plastic Straws for Koh Lanta’s Businesses

The fantastic team behind Trash Hero Koh Lanta has spurred Koh Lanta’s bars, restaurants and resorts into action by making a large order of stainless steel and paper straws, and delivering them around the island to everyone interested in using them.

It’s really inspiring to see how many businesses on Koh Lanta want to ditch plastic straws and use more eco-friendly alternatives, such as bamboo and stainless steel ones.

As well as protecting the environment and marine life, it also makes financial sense for businesses to stop using plastic straws. They can save money by not using plastic straws, and serving reusable ones instead, or not using straws at all, or giving customers paper straws only when they request them.

Happy Veggie restaurant says no to plastic straws

Koh Lanta is joining the global movement to reduce plastic straws in the ocean. We’re making a great start, but there’s still a long way to go, as many bars and restaurants do still use plastic straws.

Changing people’s habits takes time, but hopefully once a few places make a change and get the ball rolling, more places will start to see the environmental and financial benefits, and make the change too.

Which places on Koh Lanta are saying no to plastic straws?

There are quite a few places on Koh Lanta that have been quietly saying no to plastic straws for a while now (some even for several years), and now more places are starting to join them. Here are some of the places on Koh Lanta saying no to plastic straws:

Near Relax Bay

In Khlong Nin

Want to buy your own reusable straws?

This set, which includes a stainless steel straw, brush, spoon, and cloth bag, costs only 150 Baht.

Here are some of the places you can buy this stainless steel straw set on Koh Lanta:

Hidden Depths dive shop in Saladan

Oasis Yoga bungalows in Khlong Dao

Happy Veggie restaurant near Relax Bay

Asa Lanta organic teahouse and shop in Khlong Nin

Why are plastic straws so bad?

More than a BILLION plastic straws are used once and thrown away around the world EVERY DAY. They often end up in waterways and eventually our oceans, where they take up to 200 years to decompose.

They’re not even something we need to be using. We can easily manage without them, and we should be caring more about what happens to them after we’ve used them.

Plastic straws pollute the earth and oceans, and can harm marine life. Most people have probably seen the horrible photos and videos of turtles having plastic straws being pulled out of their noses. Surely we should be thinking about that every time we sip from a plastic straw. It could be the straw we’re using that ends up harming another animal in the sea.

How Can You Make a Difference?

While it’s great that lots of places on Koh Lanta are saying no to plastic straws, there are still a lot that aren’t. That’s where you, the customers, can help. You can make a real difference by encouraging other Koh Lanta businesses to stop using plastic straws.

What can you do as an individual?

If you’re having a drink somewhere that still uses plastic straws, tell them you don’t want a straw when you order your drink.

Start telling business owners why you don’t want a plastic straw. The more people who speak out, the more they’ll get the message.

Check out the Trash Hero kids telling you how to say no to plastic straws in Thai:

What can you do as a business owner?

Stop using plastic straws.

Provide a straw only when asked by a customer.

Provide either a reusable or biodegradable straw.

If you do still use plastic straws, recycle them by giving them to Aunty Bee’s shop in Lanta Noi.

Koh Lanta Cares and Wants to See an End to Plastic Straws in the Ocean

Koh Lanta is moving in the right direction, which is really exciting news. Let’s hope that soon the norm will be for the majority, or all, of Koh Lanta’s businesses to not use plastic straws. A lot of people on Koh Lanta care about this beautiful island and the marine life. They want to keep it clean and reduce the number of plastic straws in the ocean.

If we’ve forgotten to mention some places that have stopped using plastic straws, leave a comment below or send us a message. There are a lot of businesses on Koh Lanta, so it’s hard to keep track of everywhere!

Share on Pinterest

4 Replies to “Reducing Plastic Straws in the Ocean”

I would really like this fad to get out into the rest of the world. I have purchased plastic straws myself and always thought of what a waste it was at the end of the bag where I only used every straw once. Also so many plastic straws people go through regularly at fast food places and even sit down restaurants. It would be amazing if a lot of different places started picking up this practice. We could cut down on so much plastic waste.

Definitely. There really needs to be a big change and a move away from single use plastic globally. There are a lot of other ‘no straw’ movements around the world, which is great, but it won’t make a real difference until it becomes mainstream. Hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later. Thanks for your comment and for caring!

Hi Jordan, it is really sad to see the damage we’re doing to the environment and wildlife, with so many things. Plastic pollution is a huge global problem, and coastal places are really seeing the problem when the trash gets washed up on to beaches. It’s great if people can recycle their plastic straws but it doesn’t seem like many of them are being recycled. You’d be amazed at how many get washed up on to the beaches here in the rainy season. That’s why the best solution is to stop using them. On Koh Lanta, there’s a wonderful lady who upcycles used plastic straws into hand fans. So, businesses here can give their leftover straws to her.

Disclaimer

Lanta Eco News contains some affiliate links. If you click on one of these links and make a purchase, we will receive a small commission for referring you. This comes at no additional cost to you and helps towards the running costs of the website.